


Secrets In Small Doses

by lorir_writes



Series: Meant To Be (Desire & Decorum AU) [16]
Category: Desire & Decorum (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Mild Sexual Content, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorir_writes/pseuds/lorir_writes
Summary: Daphne slowly opens up to Hamid as Christmas day approaches.
Relationships: Hamid/Main Character (Desire & Decorum)
Series: Meant To Be (Desire & Decorum AU) [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1245821





	Secrets In Small Doses

  
A light cool wind blew against Hamid’s back, making him shiver. He groaned in frustration, regretting he didn’t put his pyjamas back on before he fell asleep. But it was hard to fight tiredness. Besides, he would have woken up his girlfriend in the process, which wasn’t something he wanted to do. The diplomat pulled the covers over his body to go back to sleep when he noticed the drapes partially open.

He shifted to the side to stand up and a slow smile immediately spread across his lips. With her glasses on and a blue satin robe covering some of her small frame, Daphne huddled on the plush chair near the bed with her sketchbook pressed against her legs. Her calves and feet were illuminated by the sunlight creeping into the bedroom through the small gap between the drapes.

Being an introvert, Daphne is a woman with many habits she didn’t like sharing with just anyone. And in spite of his curiosity, Hamid always respected her limits, especially when it came to drawing and painting. Which is why he was surprised to see her locked in concentration whilst her arm moved with grace and precision as she worked on a new drawing.

It didn’t take long until she realized he was watching her. Leaving her sketchbook and pencil on the desk nearby, she sauntered over to him and sat on the bed. “Good morning!”

“Good morning indeed,” he replied, closing the distance between them to kiss her. “I hope I didn’t disturb your creative process.”

“You didn’t. I finished a sketch and I was just doodling while I waited for you to wake up.”

“Really?” A yawn escaped his lips as he rubbed a hand on one eye. “How long have you been awake?”

“About two hours. But these aren’t detailed pieces, just sketches. I’ll work on them more thoroughly later.”

“Are you sure? You can continue to work on them if you want. I promise I won’t bother you. I’ll just stay here in silence and gaze at you occasionally because you look lovely wearing glasses.”

“Oh, shush…” Daphne’s cheeks flushed crimson. “You don’t have to worry about bothering me. Actually…” She glanced at her sketchbook then back at him. “You have a good eye for art. Can you help me with one of my sketches?”

“Me?” His forehead creased in surprise.

“Yeah. Give me a second.” The lady stood up, picked up her sketchbook and sat beside him, flipping pages.

“Wait… Can I really watch you draw and give my opinion on your latest piece?” He feigned shock. “Am I dreaming?”

“Don’t be silly! This would happen eventually. You didn’t see it before because I normally don’t take sketchbooks or tablets to dates.”

“Then how come Briar isn’t allowed to be near when you’re drawing?”

“Because she can’t shut up and I can’t concentrate with all her babbling.” She scowled.

Hamid cackled. “Alright, how can I help?”

She turned one more page and showed him. “What do you think?”

His face brightened up as he scrutinized the drawing. “Is it the view from my balcony?”

She nodded.

“Daphne, this is incredible!”

“Is it? You don’t think it’s too cliche that I drew the Bosphorus Bridge in my first visit here?”

“I think every artist can have their own view on a landmark that caught their attention. I won’t appreciate your work less because you drew a landmark other artists did too. And I couldn’t be happier that you drew it from my balcony.”

“Fair point.” She said with a coy smile.

“How can I purchase this artwork?”

“I can’t charge you for it. It’s the view from your balcony. The least I can do is give you a copy. But you have to wait until it’s finished.”

“Why? I like it as a sketch.”

“Me too. But this is a _really_ rough sketch. I need to add more details on the buildings, maybe add some colour in the water, the sky, the Turkish flag…”

“I’ll wait then. Whatever you do, I’m sure you’ll amaze me.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. It’ll be my pleasure to be one of the first people to have an original Wang art piece.” He puffed his chest and gesticulated as if pretending to be a snob art critic.

She doubled over.

“What about the other sketch you were working on?”

“Huh?” Her smile faded immediately.

“The other sketch. You said you drew two sketches today. You finished one first and you were doodling right before I woke up.”

“Oh! Of course…” She looked down, trying to come up with something to say. “Well, that one is finished. Don’t worry about it.”

“Is it? I thought you said it was a rough sketch.”

“Did I?”

He studied her for a moment. Her hesitation was obvious to him. He just had to know why. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Can I see your sketch now?”

“No…”

“No?!” His brows knitted together. “You just showed me and asked my opinion on one of your works in progress, but I can’t see a sketch you said it’s finished?”

“Yeah, I take it back. It’s not ready and you can’t see it.” She forced a smile.

“Daphne?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“No… I just don’t feel comfortable sharing any rough sketches.”

“That would be a plausible excuse if you didn’t show me one of WIPs a minute ago.” Hamid analyzed her in silence, then a sly smile spread on his lips. “What is it about this sketch that makes you so embarrassed to show me? Is it erotic art?”

The lady averted her gaze and picked on an invisible cuticle.

“Oh, I knew it…” A roguish grin illuminated his features. “And now that I know your little secret, you have to show me.”

Daphne covered her face with both hands.

“Don’t be ashamed. Erotic art can be as beautiful and inspiring as any form of artistic expression.” He said, kissing her cheek.

“I know but…” She chewed on a nail. “This is all new to me. I don’t usually draw erotic… stuff…” She explained, still avoiding eye contact.

“I didn’t know that. What made you want to start drawing erotic art?”

Daphne’s cheeks blushed furiously as realization dawned on his features.

“Nooo… Really?”

Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed a pillow to hide her face.

“I honestly don’t understand why you’re so ashamed. I’m flattered that yesterday’s activities inspired you to try different…” He smirked as he looked back at the sketch. “…types of drawing.”

“Stop it…” she let out a whine muffled by the pillow her face was pressed against.

“I can’t. I’ve been thinking about how to make our first Christmas Eve together unforgettable, but now I just don’t know how to exceed what you just did.” He beamed.

She sat up and looked back at him, failing to hide a smile. “You wouldn’t say that if you have seen what I drew.”

“Oh, now I _demand_ to see it.”

“Hamid, don’t. It’s not ready. It’s messy and kind of weird…” She made a face.

“What if I want your unfinished, messy and kind of weird sketch as a Christmas gift?”

“No!” Her eyes went round. “Absolutely not! I can’t give you this! Besides, I already bought you a gift.”

“Does it mean I will get two Christmas gifts from you?” He feigned surprise. “I never felt so fortunate on a Christian holiday.”

“No, you won’t. I will not give you that god-awful sketch.”

“Then you’ll not get your gift either.”

“What?! That is so rude…” She narrowed her eyes.

“It’s also very rude of you to deny me the right to see an artwork I inspired you to create.” He gave a knowing look.

“What if I give it to you later after I make some more improvements to it?”

“I’ll give your gift later then.”

They glared at each other playfully for a few minutes, but Daphne acquiesced. “Fine. I’ll show you after breakfast, but I’ll only give it to you when I finish it.”

Hamid grinned as if he had just made the best deal to acquire a priceless possession.

“Stop looking at me so smug and get dressed. Mrs. Meral is here.” She chastised picking up his pyjamas from the floor and giving them back to him while trying to ignore his cheeky grin.

Once Hamid got dressed, the couple went to the dining room, where breakfast was served. The two of them had their meal chatting about any random topics they could think of. Even though the diplomat’s housekeeper didn’t understand a word in English, Daphne was too self-conscious to do anything other than talk and respond to Hamid’s subtle flirty remarks and romantic gestures with coy smiles.

As soon as the housekeeper was dismissed and they sat on the couch near the balcony, he brought his lips to her ear. “Here we are alone again. It seems like the perfect time for you to give me one of my gifts.”

“Now?”

“You said you’d show me after breakfast. This is the moment after breakfast.” He grinned.

“I can’t escape from this, can I?”

The diplomat shook his head.

“I’ll get my sketchbook.”

“I think we both should go fetch your sketchbook,” Hamid stood up, trying to support his weight on his healthy leg.

“Impatient, are we?”

“You have no idea…” He winked.

Draping an arm around her shoulder, Hamid returned to the master bedroom with Daphne’s help, making sure to close the door behind him as they walked in.

After a couple of minutes holding on to her sketchbook in more failed attempts to dissuade her boyfriend from looking through her sketches, she sat next to him on the bed again. As he held out his hand to receive it, she pressed the object against her chest. “Before I let you see it, you need to know this and other sketches you might see are just random ideas I had and I don’t usually share them with anyone.”

“So no one has seen the content of your sketchbook?”

“Not entirely. I did ask Annabelle’s opinion a couple of times. Her paintings are brilliant, I learned a lot with her and I knew she wouldn’t judge me.”

“I’m not going to judge you, little angel. Well, not to your face…” He joked.

“Gee, how reassuring!” She retorted with a scowl.

“But I can promise to keep your secret if you give me the context of your artworks.”

The lady pursed her lips and handed the book to him. “Fair enough.”

“Thank you.” Hamid beamed and opened the book, analysing each drawing carefully. “When did you start using this sketchbook?”

“A week after I moved to Edgewater. It was a gift from my grandmother. She told me she has one as well and she uses it as a journal. But instead of writing, she draws. She prefers painting, though.”

“Interesting,” he said, glancing at her and the pages with portraits of female characters, her pug in human activities, nymphs dancing among the trees, mermaids singing in large rocks near the shore and couples sharing passionate kisses. “These are wonderful drawings. I honestly don’t know why you were—” he trailed off as his eyes landed on a female figure with private parts concealed by a flower. “Nevermind.”

“That was my first attempt a while ago…” Daphne chewed a nail as he flipped pages.

Hamid smirked. “How clever of you to use butterfly pea between the model’s legs.”

“And you’re familiar with the name of the flower.” She arched an eyebrow.

“I was grounded because of an incident involving this flower. I could never forget it.”

“Now I need details.”

“Maybe later. Right now, I want my Christmas gift.”

“Okay…” She reached for the book, turned a few pages and stopped.

The corners of his mouth lifted as he gazed at the image of a male figure kissing a female character’s collarbone whilst her head hung back and mouth was open as if she was moaning. Unlike what Daphne said, the drawing was rich in details, expressions, but nothing that would reveal who those characters were. But to him, it was clear.

“Please say something.”

“This is… stunning!“

"Is it? Because I feel like I have to do some improvements.”

“Improvements? This is perfect!”

“Really?” Daphne nibbled her bottom lip nervously.

“Yes! I love everything about it. The lines, the pose, expressions…”

“You’re not just saying it, are you?”

“I would never.”

“Yes, you would.”

“That is true, but I would never lie about something important to you.”

“You don’t think it’s creepy that I drew it?” Daphne chewed on a nail.

“Why would I find it creepy? These are your original characters, Demir and Hailey.” He wriggled his eyes.

“Demir and Hailey?”

“It’s an alternative to make it less obvious.”

She giggled.

“Look at us sharing a secret,” he commented, intertwining his fingers with hers.

Her smile slowly faded. An erotic drawing was nothing if compared to the one thing she wished she could erase from her past.

“Aşkım?” He brushed away a few loose locks of hair from her face. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I was just thinking…” She looked down at their hands locked together, looking for the courage to talk about it. “Have you ever had a secret you wanted to tell someone, but you don’t know how to say it because you were afraid of this other person’s reaction?”

“Yes. We all did things we’re afraid to be judged for in the future.” He lifted up her chin so their eyes met. “But whatever you did in the past doesn’t define who you are, even if it left a scar.”

“Do you really think so?”

He nodded. “I do want to know everything about you, but if you’re not ready to tell me something, it’s okay. I don’t expect you to tell me everything after one week dating. We can take it slow.”

“Maybe we can reveal secrets in small doses?”

“Sure.” He uttered, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

As emotions threatened to come to surface, Daphne wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and sat on his lap, hiding her face where his shoulder and neck meet. “Why are you always so wonderful?” She whispered.

“I have years of practice and my family’s good genes.”

A small chuckle escaped her lips.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Because there’s something I want to ask you and it can’t wait.”

“Uh… Sure…” Daphne pulled away from the hug and eyed him in confusion. “What is it?”

“How do you celebrate Christmas?”

“Is it your question that can’t wait?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Christmas Eve. Every Christian person has their own traditions and I want to know yours.”

The young lady raised an eyebrow, feigning suspicion. “Hamid, what are you up to?”

“Nothing. At least, not yet.” He smirked. “Now, stop deflecting my question.”

“Alright… In Edgewater, I attend Christmas Eve service with my family. After that, we have supper and I usually stay awake watching Christmas movies with my brothers. Briar usually joined us then pretended she was hungry. Then, Eddie insisted that he should go with her to the kitchen to find something to eat.”

“Subtlety was never Briar’s strong suit, huh?”

“No.”

The two of them laughed.

“I guess that won’t happen this year…” She frowned.

“Were you rooting for them to be together?”

“Sort of… “ Daphne shrugged. “I don’t talk about it because I don’t want to make things awkward between them, but Briar has this magical power of bringing Eddie’s best self to surface. They were way worse with PDA than she is with Arthur, but they’re really cute together. He even had a list of possible gift ideas for her, flowers she likes, poems he thought she would like.”

“I understand this must be a sensitive issue for you because you have strong ties to both of them. But for some couples, love isn’t everything. No matter how affectionate they are.”

“I guess you’re right…”

He tilted his head to the side, studying her face. “Okay, you’re growing sad again. Was this a bad idea?”

“No.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’m fine. I’ll get to the good part.” She cleared her throat to speak. “On Christmas morning, we have breakfast while opening the gifts and, right after lunch, we help Mr. and Mrs. Daly to distribute gift baskets with food for families in need.”

“That’s a really nice gesture. Do all your family members join?”

“Most of them do. Grandmother helps Briar’s parents to gather and organize the gift baskets. Father also helps with that and also buys toys for families with small children. But on Christmas day, we usually have guests at home, so they rarely help on the distribution of the baskets.”

“It makes sense. Any more traditions before Christmas day ends?’’

“We have supper then more Christmas movies marathons.” She beamed.

“How many Christmas movies are there?”

“Well, Harry’s list has at least thirty films and he always makes us watch Die Hard, The Grinch, or Batman Returns just to annoy Briar. And if I add her list and Annabelle’s, it goes up to seventy five movies.”

His eyebrows rose in astonishment. “That’s a really long list…”

“Yeah, Briar always adds any new rom coms she finds online.”

“That explains all the Christmas action movies.”

“Precisely.”

“Hmmm…” he shifted on the bed, resting his back on the headboard. “You mentioned you have celebrated Christmas in two different ways. Tell me about the other one.”

“Christmas with mum and lǎo lao¹ had its own peculiarities…”

“How so?”

“We also went to Christmas Eve services, had supper right after and a feast on the next day too. But after supper on Christmas Eve, mum and lǎo lao would go to the kitchen and prepare a few dishes for the Christmas feast with our neighbors.”

“Oh… You spent Christmas day with neighbors!”

“That’s how we met the Dalys. We used to have food from different cultures. It was so much fun. Once we had dumplings, couscous, tamales and cocada². I don’t think I’ve ever felt so full in my life.”

“I believe you.”

“Whilst they prepared the dish we would share the next day, mum and I used to sing our favorite Christmas songs. Well, it was mostly mum and I playing the piano and singing. Lǎo lao used to say multitasking was for crazy people.”

Hamid cackled. “Sounds about right. And why didn’t you tell me you play the piano?”

“Because I’m not nearly as good as mum was. She was marvelous. I just learned to help her when she had to study for a play and to hear her sing, of course. I didn’t get expensive gifts until I met my father, but Christmas was my favorite time of the year anyway.” Daphne said as she rested her head on her boyfriend’s chest.

“There was so much about you I didn’t know…”

“Yeah, I guess the whole taking things slow and revealing secrets in small doses backfired.”

“Lucky me.” He grinned.

Just then, she gasped. “You tricked me! I spent all this time talking and you didn’t mention anything about yourself!”

“You can’t blame me for it. I don’t have any Christmas related traditions,” he teased.

“Yeah, great excuse. But now it’s your turn to talk, Hamid bey³,” she scolded him playfully.

“Ask away,” he replied with a smile.

—

  
¹ Grandma  
² Brazilian dessert made of fresh grated coconut, sugar and condensed milk  
³ Mister


End file.
